This report contains an midline analysis of CARE’s POWER/PROFIR (Promoting Opportunities for Women’s Economic Empowerment) project on the financial health of village savings and loans groups in Cote d’Ivoire and Rwanda. The project is a collaboration between CARE Canada, Access Africa, and MasterCard Foundation. POWER Africa /PROFIR is based on the VSLA approach as a means to provide access to valuable financial services and build a pathway towards formal financial inclusion for poor households in rural areas. The key measures of the effects of linkage that are assess in this study are (1) Standardized return on savings (ROS), (2) Standardized return on assets (ROA), (3) Savings per member, (4) bank balances, (5) bank account usage, and (6) Adoption of individual bank accounts. These indicators measure the outcomes of the project along key dimensions of POWER Africa/PROFIR’s objectives of building financial capacity for all clients and decreasing gender gaps in access to and control of financial skills, assets, and services. We also look at how group characteristics, like the proportion of women members, attendance, access to credit, and Read More...

Every Voice Counts (EVC) in a multi-country program being implemented in sic countries by CARE Netherlands in partnership with The Hague Academy for Local Governance, CARE Country Offices, and local Civil Society Organizations, and funded by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, under the auspices of strategic partnership "Dialogue and Dissent." [94 pages] Read More...

Every Voice Counts (EVC) Programme aims to contribute to inclusive and effective governance processes in fragile settings since 1st of January 2016 to 31st December 2020. The programme is implemented by Care Netherlands (CNL), CARE Country Offices (COs) and local partners in Sudan, Somalia, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Rwanda and Burundi. In Burundi, this program is implemented in 3 provinces (Gitega, Muyinga, Kirundo) in 8 communes and 80 collines. This document provides the results of the mid-term review conducted in July 2018 in Burundi. [124 pages] Read More...

This report presents a Mid-Term Review of the Every Voice Counts (EVC) Program and presents the key evaluation questions of relevancy, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability. In the methodology, a triangulation of data is presented with emphasis on comprehensive desk review of key internal and external documents relevant to the project, theory of change and Harvesting of Outcomes (OH), structured questionnaires, key informant interviews and focus group discussions with a representative sample. Statistical data is presented in form of charts, frequency tables and logical framework. The evaluation report provides clear, evidence-based and analytical answers to all the agreed evaluation questions and includes the assessment of the cross-cutting topics. It contains all the necessary raw data information that have been used in the process of data collection and analysis, and any other necessary annexes and references used. Stories of change have been highlighted to support the stated quantitative data. Data have been disaggregated by provinces, gender and type of organization of the respondents. The aim of this assignment is to conduct the external Midterm Review (MTR) of the Every Voice Counts Program as described in this ToR, following the four (04) domains, that is, empowerment of members of excluded groups in particular, women and girls on lobby and advocacy, strengthening the advocacy of CSOs, enhancing responsiveness of public authorities and other power holders and strengthening space for dialogue and negotiations. These are reflected under the key evaluation questions of OECD (relevancy, effectiveness, efficiency, impact and sustainability). In the particular, the evaluation focused on the following: Describe progress in relation to the country Theory of Change (ToC) and objectives of the EVC Program and as compared to baseline; Describe what went well, what did not and what could be improved. [177 pages] Read More...

At the mid-point of BECOMES there is evidence the project has enhanced the capacity of smallholder cocoa farmers, strengthened collective farming practices and made a solid start on building the capacity of community coops and business groups. BECOMES’ successful Model Farming Families (MFF) strategy and Farmer Business Management Training (FBMT) have enhanced the capacity of local farmers to contribute to improved cocoa farming practices and increased gender equity within smallholder households. Changes towards more gender equitable social practices in individuals and groups, entrepreneurial capacity building and improved access to value chain opportunities have led to greater involvement of women and young farmers in cocoa production and more equity in the economic benefits. This win-win situation has been widely recognized by smallholders and industry stakeholders. Read More...